A Salute to the Troops
by vcawarrior15
Summary: A one-shot I wrote to celebrate the Fourth of July. Also, I would like to thank all the troops oversees. It wasn;t for all of you, I wouldn't be able to even write this.


Isabella pulled turned on her computer, and opened up her Skype application. She browsed for her friends that were on-line and she found that Phineas and Ferb were on their computers as well. She sent a request for a video conference with the two boys from across the street, which they both quickly accepted. "Hey guys, whatcha doin?" Isabella asked, adorning her computer headset.

"Since tomorrow is American Independence Day, Ferb and I decided to look up some stories about how awesome the military men and women are. I mean we should celebrate being in this free country, but it wouldn't be possible without the men and women that are fighting for us. We've found a few articles; do you want to hear them?" Phineas offered.

"Sure sounds like fun. What's first?"

"Okay, this was after the Indonesian tsunami a few years ago. 'There was a conference in France, where a number of international engineers were taking part, including French and American. During a break, one of the French engineers came back into the room saying, have you heard the latest dumb stunt Bush has done? He has sent an aircraft carrier to Indonesia to help the tsunami victims. What does he intend to do, bomb them?'"

"That's not what he did at all." Isabella reminded.

"I know that, the article keeps going. 'A Boeing engineer stood up and replied quietly: Our carriers have 3 hospitals on board that can treat several hundred people; they are nuclear powered and can supply emergency electrical power to shore facilities; they have 3 cafeterias with capacity to feed 3,000 people 3 meals a day. They can produce several thousand gallons of fresh water from sea water each day. And they carry 6 helicopters for use in transporting victims and injured to and from their flight deck. We have 11 such ships; how many does France have?'"

"Wow, that's crazy, and it stuck to that French guy; he was a real jerk."

"If you think that's crazy, you should hear that you that Ferb thought was cool. 'A U.S. Navy Admiral was attending a Naval conference that included Admirals from the U.S., English, Canadian, Australian and French Navies. At a reception, he found himself standing with a large group of officers that included personnel from most of those countries. Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped their drinks but a French Admiral suddenly complained that, whereas Europeans learn many languages, Americans learn only English. He then asked why is it we always have to speak English in these conferences rather than speaking French.'" Phineas quoted.

"Man, wasn't that French Admiral being a little hard-headed. Isn't English like the most common spoken language?" Isabella asked.

Phineas shrugged, "I guess he was trying to make a point, trying to plant the idea to switch languages, I don't know. Still, the stories not over. 'Without hesitating, the American Admiral replied, maybe it's because the Brit's, Canadians, Aussies, and Americans arranged it so you wouldn't have to speak German.'"

"He showed him, do you have any more stories?" Isabella questioned as she began typing away on her own search.

"There's one more, and it's the best of the three. 'Robert Whiting, an elderly gentleman of 83, arrived in Paris by plane. At French Customs, he took a few minutes to locate his passport in his carry on. You have been to France before, monsieur? The customs officer asked sarcastically. Mr. Whiting admitted that he had been to France previously. Then you should know enough to have your passport ready. The American said, the last time I was here, I didn't have to show it.

Impossible, Americans always have to show their passports on arrival in France! The American senior gave the Frenchman a long hard look. Then he quietly explained; well, when I came ashore at Omaha Beach on D-Day in 1944 to help liberate this country, I couldn't find a single Frenchman to show a passport to.' I think that proves the point that our military men and women are awesome." Phineas stated proudly.

"You're right; without them we wouldn't be doing this right now. I do have a question; why were all of the stories that you two picked were all about the French being jerks?" Isabella asked.

"I have no idea; I think it was because a few years ago, the French government and military were just being rude, jerks, whatever you want to call it. The search pulled them up all together so it was just some of the few that we found," Phineas explained.

"Hey, here's a good one about our military, and it doesn't involve the French. You guys want to hear it?" Isabella offered.

"Sure, what happened?"

" First off the title of the article says, 'SHOPLIFTER INJURED FALLING OFF CURB – Orville Smith a store manager for Best Buy in Augusta, Georgia, told police he observed a male customer, later identified as Tracey Attaway of Augusta, on surveillance cameras putting a laptop computer under his jacket. When confronted, the man became irate, knocked down an employee, drew a knife and ran for the door.

Outside on the sidewalk were 4 Marines collecting toys for the "Toys for Tots" program. Smith said the Marines stopped the man, but he stabbed one of the Marines, Cpl. Phillip Duggan, in the back, the injury did not appear to be severe. After police and an ambulance arrived at the scene, Cpl. Duggan was transported for treatment. The subject was also transported to the local hospital with 2 broken arms, a broken ankle, a broken leg, several missing teeth, possible broken ribs, multiple contusions, assorted lacerations, a broken nose and a broken jaw; injuries he sustained when he slipped and fell off of the curb after stabbing the Marine!',"

All three of the kids started to laugh at the story. "I don't think that the guy got all of those injuries from falling off a curb," Isabella spat out before she continued to giggle.

After a few minutes the laughing finally stopped, and the conversation continued. "You know, it's good that we can sit here and celebrate Independence Day by finding stories about the men and women that not only make sure that we can celebrate Independence Day, but also fight for the freedoms of everyone else." Phineas declared. All three got a video request, which they accepted. "Hey, vcawarrior15, how are you today?"

"Phineas, I told you not to call me that. Just call me by my normal name. How are Ferb and Isabella today?" Kaleb asked.

"I'm fine," Isabella responded, Ferb gave a thumbs up.

"What are you three doing on this Fourth of July holiday?"

"Ferb and I have a great big celebration planned. Did you get your invitation?"

"Yeah, I got it right here, but I think that should have put a fire warning on the invitation before I opened it. If I hadn't opened it next to the mailbox, I would have burned down part of the house. Still, I liked the fireworks."

"Yeah, sorry about that; right now, the three of us have been reading stories about American military personnel."

"That's cool, you know holidays especially like the Fourth of July remind how blessed we are to live in a country like America. I just hope that we remember that it's a privilege to live in this country."

"I am reminded everyday; all I have to do is wake up and look at my step-brother next to me as he declares what we are going to do that day." Ferb spoke up for the first time, putting his arm around Phineas' neck and gave it a squeeze.


End file.
